1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo from North America - Comments

This car was a pile of scrap metal.

The story of how the engine blew up is a story I keep telling. I managed to sell this piece of junk to some bow-tie blinded fool in Wisconsin. It was funny, on the drive to his house it started to have a really bad knock that kept getting worse and worse as we went. This was OK, I told him the motor was junk. After 30 miles of driving through the boon-docks of Wisconsin the knock got so bad it sounded like someone hitting the block with a hammer really fast. A half mile from the guys house the engine blew up, and KEPT RUNNING! I was blinded by smoke and oil from the engine bay but managed to get it to his house. As I pulled into the driveway the engine BLEW UP AGAIN and seized. Lucky eh?

This car was 100% cheap. I figure it wasn't worth the $20 I paid for it. I compared it indepth with my 79 Thunderbird. Both cars were in the same price range and size, etc. The T-bird slung an extra half ton of steel, it didn't have any rattles (where with the Monte, the entire car rattled), was a couple feet longer, came with door hinges that lasted into the 90's, didn't have a "fall down" ceiling, came with larger rims, and is still surviving with the same paint after three hundred and sixty thousand miles of hard driving through the salty strips of Minnesota after being a police car for who knows how many years.

OK.. lets compare quality between these two cars... nah.. lets not..

Only someone who is not smart would buy the Monte Carlo with the 3.8L V6. I own a 79 Monte Carlo and love it. I have since replaced the 305 V8 (yes I said V8 as I would not have bought the car without it) with a performance 350 engine. The 305 was running fine when I took it out with over 200,000 miles (original). I bought the car from the original owner for $600 and I will tell you I can't find a nicer riding car around. I don't have rattles or anything and I live in NYC where pot-holes are everywhere. I also owned a 79 Mercury Cougar/Thunderbird and thought that was a decent car but not as good as my Monte. At 125,000 miles the lifters starting making noise and it had a rod knock when it started. The engine was a 351M. The headliner was falling down and the seats were ripped and the dashboard shook and rattled every time I went over a bump. The interior of my Monte is in excellent condition. My Monte doesn't have any rust either, the Mercury had a lot of rust. In my opinion the Monte is a much better car.

Your comparison with the Thunder Bird and Monte Carlo are as different as in night and day. The Ford Thunder Bird was a luxury FULL-SIZE car. The Monte Carlo was an intermediate size car. Then the subject of buying the car, you complain bout when you sold the car. The person who bought it the motor blew up twice, before they arrived home. Well think bout the condition that you bought it.

I just acquired a 79 Monte Carlo my shelf. I live in Iowa where it is very unusual to have an older car that is rust free. The cars that are rust free have either lived a very sheltered life never seeing the road with snow and ice, also included with that is salt and sand to give traction and to melt the snow. Along with the salt and sand, which is loved here in Iowa by the D.O.T. for cleaning the surfaces in which we drive on with our cars. For the other cars that have no rust means that they have been restored. We haven't had a car around this house that is 10 years old, or older that came from this region that has no rust. This 79 Monte Carlo it has it's problems w/ the frame and has some slight surfact rust on the body, and the underneath the car.

For the motor, we also have a 1986 Olds Cutlass Supreme with a 3.8 v-6 Buick motor in it. The motor has more than given the reliability that we could have asked for. With over a hundred and 70 thousand miles and still running strong. The motor leaks a little, and burns some to, but can't ask more out of a motor that has never been rebuilt. The engine has more than outlast the body, and the frame of the car. We have replaced the rear frame rails to keep the car on the road for a daily beater.

In all we still keep getting the A/G body cars even know the faults in the body and the frame, and if you really want to complain about a motor that was junk off the line then find a 307 olds motor, and watch the fun that your going to have with it.

I bought my 79 monte carlo for $3,500 from the original owner and I would not trade it for the world I will never sell it. It only had 53,000 miles on it when I got it, it now has 82,000 miles. It has a V8 of course, not a V6-forget that-I wouldn't have bought it. The interior was perfect, no rust on it anywhere. All together I would say it looked like a brand new car even though it was 22 years old when I bought it. I got it as a graduation present in 2001 from my mom's friend's dad, so trust me when I say ORIGINAL 53,000 miles. Isn't that crazy. One more thing I AM a female.

I own two 1980 Monte Carlo's and live in Mn, but you wouldn't think so by looking at the car's.I keep the Monte's in very good shape and treat them with Respect and drive them in the same manner. I have owned them for several year's and plan on passing them onto other family member's who will appreciate them as I have. The maintenence of the car's have alway's been on time and the upkeep of the whole vehicle's have alway's been a priority. They are not mint, but they are Beautiful as I Continue to get offer's daily when I am out driving. I ride with pride and am alway's happy to show and discuss my Monte Carlo's with anyone who ask's or offer's comment's.

Dear Ryan,

In the air for a good 3 seconds?

No way!

At 60 mph you would have "flown" 3x88=264 feet.

Almost a hundred yards.

Do you really think you did that?

Remember, once you begin to fall back towards the ground, you would drop 32 feet in the first second, another 64 feet in the second second. Did you drop 96 feet?

It might be perhaps 1/2 a second before your car began to descend and another 3/4 second to hit the deck.

Just over one second, at most.

I own a 79 monte and I bought it for 200 dollars, it was completely junked and yes it came with the v-6, so what, it is going to be replaced for a 02 ss camaro engine and other mods are going to be added. I love montes and I would not trade it for the world. A complete rebuild is being done to the body, chasis and suspension. I got at the age of nineteen and I only have a year with it. I hope to finish it by the summer of 06. to all of you monte lovers keep the alive. =)

Javier, el paso tx.

Yo Ryan Gasdorf... it is Bob Young... I found this while looking for your name online... you still around? Let me know.

I'm surprised it even ran for the short time it did. You should be thankful it ran to the buyer's house so you could unload it onto someone who would appreciate it and know what to do with it.

To the reviewer...

I don't believe for a minute that your 1979 Thunderbird was used as a police car. A Ford LTD or a Ford LTD II from that era, yes... but not a Thunderbird. Such a car would've been very impractical as a police vehicle.

As far as the Monte Carlo goes, no they weren't perfect. But it sounds like the one you got was already trashed.